Every sport is governed by its own set of rules. During a sporting contest, one or more persons called officials administer the game by enforcing rules. Every level of sport—little league, middle school, high school, college, semi-pro, professional—require officials for the games to be played safely and properly. The officials who officiate our beloved games come from every segment of society and have varied knowledge, abilities, skills and experience.
During a game, regardless of the sport, it is not rare for a spectator to wish an official(s) working a particular game was doing a better job; making less mistakes and administering the game in a more efficient manner. The level of frustration experienced by a spectator is especially high if the official(s) blows an important call and/or influences the outcome of the game. Sometimes an official(s) performs so poorly that the spectators believe they can do a better job of officiating than the official(s) who are trained and get paid to officiate.
The uneven, and sometimes outright poor, performance of an official(s) as observed by spectators can be at least partly attributed to the way officials learn their craft. The conventional way for an official to learn his/her craft is through study of the appropriate rules along with trial and error experience gained by officiating actual games. Because there are only so many games per season for an official to officiate, the learning curve for a new official is difficult and it takes a long time for a new official to gain proficiency.
In light of the limited number of actual games played per season for an official in a particular sport to practice his/her technique and gain proficiency, there is clearly demand for a method of simulating the experience of a sports official that will enable a person to gain competence officiating a particular sport by training under game-like situations; seeing and then identifying penalties in real games. The present invention provides such a method. The present invention provides a method for sports officials to increase their level of skill by simulating the situations and conditions they encounter during actual games. By increasing the competence level of sports officials, the present invention enhances the overall experience of the sports we love. The present invention also provides an entertaining and educational experience for non-officials.